April 2000 - Contents

Features

• Celebrating Earth Day
  Laura Jones
  Despite a proliferation of initiatives to address environmental concerns over the past 30 years, and much success in doing so, many people are pessimistic about our progress.
• Questioning the Ideals of the Organic Food Movement
  Dennis Avery
  Does organic farming really produce more nutritious and safer food, create no pesticide residues, and offer no harm to wildlife? Unfortunately, no.
• Environmentalism for the Twenty-first Century
  Patrick Moore
  This Greenpeace founder explains why we must recognize changing reality.
• Throwing Precaution to the Winds
  H. Sterling Burnett
  While the Precautionary Principle may sound reasonable, it would be disastrous if practised. Every food, product, and tool poses some risk of harm.
• The Ambiguous Advice of the Precautionary Principle
  Glenn Fox
  The manner in which the Precautionary Principle is typically invoked is one-sided. It recognizes one category of unseen consequences but not another.

Articles

• CBC "Indepth" Provides the Goods on Gas Prices
  Lydia Miljan
  This critic gives modest applause to an article on CBC's web site for providing factual information, and describing the influence of government and the market.
• Funny Data
  Chris Sarlo
  For most people, the gap between income and consumption is not huge. However, 44,000 Canadian households seemed to have low income but middle class consumption.
• Alberta Tops the Budget Performance Index
  Joel Emes
  The Fraser Institute Budget Performance Index examines how local and provincial governments tax, spend, and manage debt. Here's a synopsis of the results.
• The "Deklein" of Policy Analysis
  John R. Graham
  Alberta's Bill 11 has generated much comment. Too bad so much of it - one notable contribution in particular - is flawed.
• April Questions & Answers and April Graph
  Joel Emes
  How large is the public sector in Canada? What percentage of population and total employment is it?
• The Hidden Harm of Sanctions
  Dexter Samida & Martin Zelder
  Sanctions punishing foreign governments for their misbehaviour seem like the obvious solution to tragic human rights abuses. But are they?
• Privatizing the Internet?
  Mark Weller
  The Internet is a sort of Mecca of free speech and free trade. But at its base, paradox- ically, lies a complicated jumble of government bureaucracy and legislated monopoly.
• Budgeting for Disaster
  Filip Palda
  A majority of Canadians receive more in government services than they pay in taxes. They are friends of the deficit. No wonder Ottawa is reluctant to take action.
• Editor's Notes
  Kristin McCahon

Fraser Forum is published 12 times a year by The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian economic and social research and educational organization. It has as its objective the redirection of public attention to the role of competitive markets in providing for the well-being of Canadians. Where markets work, the Institute’s interest lies in trying to discover prospects for improvement. Where markets do not work, its interest lies in finding the reasons. Where competitive markets have been replaced by government control, the interest of the Institute lies in documenting objectively the nature of the improvement or deterioration resulting from government intervention. The work of the Institute is assisted by an Editorial Advisory Board of internationally renowned economists. The Fraser Institute is a national, federally chartered non-profit organization financed by the sale of its publications and the tax-deductible contributions of its members, foundations, and other supporters.

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Copyright © 2000 The Fraser Institute
Date of Issue: March 2000. Printed and bound in Canada.
Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement #0087246
(ISSN 0827-7893)

Publishing editor: Michael Walker
Managing editor: Kristin McCahon
Designer: Kristin McCahon
Art design and assistance: David Cook Design
Cover image: Mike Miller Design + Art Inc.
Contributing editors: Patrick Basham, Jason Clemens, Peter Cowley, Joel Emes, Claudia Rebanks Hepburn, Laura Jones, Dexter Samida, Michael Walker, Martin Zelder
Finance and Administration: Michael Hopkins
Media Relations: Suzanne Walters

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